Diamond Needle

We're about to review an album for you which means this is our last chance to crack a bad joke before going into serious mode. That'll be a nice Change won't it? Ahaa!


Sugababes - Change [2007]
With their sixth studio album just around the corner we thought we'd look back on last year's Sugababes album. Change was preceeded by About You Now. It is believed that no new word has yet been invented which can properly highlight the amazingness of said song but certainly it is beyond amazing, and that is that. Never Gonna Dance Again, a Xenomania number set somewhat unsurprisingly on the dancefloor, may just be the biggest wasted oppurtunity of the girls' career to date. Brimming with hooks and sad melodrama, the song was destined to be #1 had anybody behind the scenes actually had the sense to release it. The best moments come during Amelle's first verse when the bass kicks in, and in Heidi's glorious middle 8. Did anybody ever own a middle 8 better than Range? It's hard to say without resorting to vodka shots and fist fights but there's no doubt that here she positively snatches the song out from Amelle's dagger-fingers and Keisha's claws, stamping her lovely mysteriousness all over it. You feel her pain, and you love it.

Denial is third and should come as the answer to those asking whereabouts the Sugababes lost their edge (actually, the answer to that is in Boots but that is for another time). A growling electro quiver introduces the song, which again Heidi steals with her effortless emotion and curious sentiment. If the girl had any sense, she would stop doing this - Queen Keisha will not be happy! My Love Is Pink follows and again allows Xenomania the oppurtunity to shine - this time, though, they pass on that in favour of a monotone, hard-edged dancefloor-friendly beat which is entirely free of any joy. The song is saved by lyrics so ridiculous you come to appreciate them and a massive hook, but it's hard to shake the idea that Brian Higgins sat in his chair of evil and plotted to give the girls a song which would draw 'weaker Girls Aloud' comparisons.

Change now, one of two big ballads on the album. Actually, subtle is probably the word, for the only time the song is 'big' is during the reflective chorus, which sees the girls probe some rather weighty questions; 'aint it funny how you think you got your whole life planned, just to find out it was never ever in your hands?'. Sometimes I sit and answer 'yes' or 'no' to this rhetoric, dependant upon my mood. The song fulfills the 'lovely ballad' brief and goes down as their best slowie since...well, since the last one they released. Next is Back When, presumably constructed sat in a park on a sunny day, lieing on a picnic blanket whilst Keisha sunbathed and the others primed her toe nails. The song sounds like summer, in short, and whilst we all like a nice dosage of summer, it's all disappointly predictable here. It seems Sugababes do uplifting better when it's in the form of upbeat dance-pop and not breezy midtempo.

Surprise is in fact not a surprise at all, for it is more of the same. This time, however, the hook is huge - thank Dr Luke, god of my world - and so the element of safety can be forgiven. Back Down with it's reggae-infused beat is the perfect vehicle for Amelle to demonstrate the appeal of her husky vocal, and as rancid as any song which contains the lyric 'I like my man rough, I like my man tough' should in theory be, the end result is actually positive - we're in guilty pleasure territory. From one extreme to the other, Mended By You is all dramatic strings and unanswered questions. 'August 23rd, do you remember?'; at least give us a clue! It's actually a song of sheer beauty and contains the subtlest hook on the album in the form of the pre-chorus bridge. On top of this, the closing minutes is packed with 'ooh, ooh-ooh's. Apparently team Sugababe quite like the 'ooh' lyric, and as anybody with an education should now, it is in fact the key to pop perfection.

The brashness makes a blunt return in the form of 3 Spoons Of Suga. Was a song title ever this shameless? I think not, and it doesn't even make sense, for the girls proceed to tell us that what they need is three spoons of sugar; none of this 'suga' malarky, unless they intend on eating themselves. All the same it's a fun song but nothing more, and it's status as a bonus track is difficult to sympathise with. Open The Door is the album's penultimate number, and marks the final contribution of afore-mentioned-genius Dr Luke and his perfectly-matched sidekick in writing, Cathy Dennis. It's another dose of upbeat fun, but this time slightly sad tones underpin the song and it's all the better for it. Keisha's middle 8, in fact, is one of near-despair. It's an cruel irony that nearly all of the best moments on this record come when sadness and misery populate the lyrics. Undignified closes preceeding; it's name could barely be any more inappopriate, for this is dignified in every sense, to the extent that it's actually a little bit boring. Certainly it's not a patch on the epic closers of both editions of their previous studio album Taller In More Ways.

To conclude, Sugababes 3.0 were likely still finding their sound when they made Change. It's a very promising start - there are six or seven songs on here which rank amongst the girls' best of all-time. There is also an abundance of safety which needs to be shred before a true classic can be produced. Now, onto Catfights and Spotlights...